May 4th, 2015

Editor’s Dispatch: Carpe Diem is here!

by Countess Tea

I’m so excited to welcome “Carpe Diem” to Comics Kingdom.

Carpe Diem is the brainchild of the wonderful, quirky Niklas Eriksson. From Umeå, Sweden, Niklas has been writing and drawing Carpe Diem for European audiences for many years, and we’re so thrilled to be bringing his excellent humor to you here!

Niklas has been a comics reader for his entire life. ” I grew up with the swedish version of MAD and I think that laid the foundation for my lifelong interest in comics,” he said. “Later on, Gary Larson became my favorite cartoonist. And he still is. Coffee is another huge influence. I try to be under the influence of strong coffee for most of the day. (Swedish coffee is about 1000 times stronger than American)”

I asked Niklas if he had any funny stories about creating comics. His answer?

“There is nothing funny about creating comics. Its like working in a mine, chopping away at bedrock with your bare brain – while your wife thinks you’re “daydreaming”. How ever, strong (Swedish) coffee can make it quite tolerable.”

And of course, those “daydreams” are Niklas’ favorite part about cartooning:

“It’s all about the ideas for me – there is a weird excitement when you finally arrive at a idea for a cartoon that really works – knowing that you can now celebrate with even more coffee, 1000 times stronger than American.”

“Carpe Diem is really a comic about anything. Cave men, knights, google-boats, space travel, every day life, talking dogs – each day will bring a different subject, unless you’re reading yesterday’s paper again.”

Or, you know, revisiting your favorites on Comics Kingdom!

Here’s today’s strip–so kick back with a cup of Swedish coffee (1000 times stronger than American!) and check back soon for more Carpe Diem!